CAUSEWAY COAST AND GLENS COUNTRYSIDE RECREATION STRATEGY Prepared by Ferguson McIlveen IN ASSOCIATION WITH Countryside Consultancy On behalf of The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 CONTENTS 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Northern Ireland Countryside Recreation Strategy 2.0 CURRENT POSITION 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Land-Based Activities 2.3 Water-Based Activities 2.4 Air-Based Activities 2.5 Outdoor Education Centres 2.6 Outdoor Activity Providers 2.7 Other Countryside Activities 3.0 COUNTRYSIDE RECREATION ISSUES 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Common Issues 3.3 Issues for Land Activities 3.4 Issues for Water Activities 3.5 Issues for Air Activities 4.0 THE COUNTRYSIDE RECREATION CONTEXT 5.0 THE ACTIVITY MARKET 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Match of Activity Provision to Participant 6.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF COUNTRYSIDE RECREATION 7.0 THE VISION 7.1 Introduction 7.2 A Possible Vision 7.3 Key Aspirational Statements 8.0 ACTIONS TO REALISE THE VISION 8.1 Causeway coast and Glens - Action Programme 9.0 CASE STUDIES 9.1 Rossknowlagh Surf Centre, Donegal 9.2 North Western Fisheries Board 10.0 APPENDIX Ferguson McIlveen The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction This document sets out a Countryside Recreation Strategy for the Causeway Coast and Glens. It has been commissioned by the Causeway Initiative in association with the Countryside Access and Activities Network (CAAN). The study aims to provide an effective and sustainable framework for the future management of countryside recreation within the Causeway Coast and Glens area, specifically seeking to maximise current and future opportunities for participation whilst striving for the conservation and protection of natural environment. Specific objectives are as follows:- Any recreational use of the Northern Ireland countryside is managed in a way which provides a high quality and consistent experience for all recreational users. New and developing facilities for countryside recreation within Northern Ireland are resourced, supported, provided and managed in a strategic way and The public’s awareness of countryside recreation opportunities within Northern Ireland is raised and participation in countryside recreation by well-informed users is encouraged. The Causeway Coast and Glens area encompasses the Council areas of Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Limavady, Moyle and Newtownabbey (See map 1). The area extends from the eastern shore of Lough Foyle to Belfast Lough and includes the Causeway Coast, Antrim Coast and Glens, and North Derry Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 1.2 Northern Ireland Countryside Recreation Strategy November 1998 saw the publication of Northern Ireland’s first Countryside Recreation Strategy which set out a strategic framework for the future of countryside recreational activities. Following a recommendation in this document, the Countryside Access and Activities Network for Northern Ireland was established in March 1999 and tasked with the strategic development and management of countryside recreation across Northern Ireland. The 1998 strategy listed twenty-six activities to which archery, sea fishing and windsurfing have been added. Land-Based Activities - Caving Ferguson McIlveen Page No 1 The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 - Clay Pigeon Shooting - Fell Running - Field Sports - Two Wheeled Motor Sports - Four Wheeled Motor Sports - Horse Riding - Mountain Biking - Mountaineering - Orienteering - Walking/Rambling - Archery Water-Based Activities - Canoeing - Coarse Angling - Game Angling - Sea Angling - Jet Skiing - Rowing - Sailing - Sub Aqua - Surfing - Windsurfing - Water Skiing Air-Based Activities - Aeromodelling - Gliding - Hang Gliding & Paragliding - Microlight Flying - Parachuting - Popular Flying The Causeway Coast and Glens Recreation Strategy is one of five covering Northern Ireland’s most protected landscapes, the others being the Mournes, the Sperrins, Fermanagh and South Armagh. Ferguson McIlveen Page No 2 The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 2.0 CURRENT POSITION 2.1 Introduction The following is a summary of the current position for each of the twenty-nine activities with the Causeway Coast and Glens. It is based on consultation with the governing bodies of all the activities, Council officers responsible for access, recreation and tourism, information from Forest Service and other consultees and on the consultants own knowledge of the area. CAAN has recently commissioned reviews of off- road cycling and canoeing opportunities in Northern Ireland and that information has fed into this study. The following sections also consider management issues and aspirations for each activity. Maps 2 to 8 show the sites. 2.2 Land Based Activities Caving There is one caving site in county Antrim which is infrequently used because of difficult conditions. Clay Pigeon Shooting There are many types of Clay Pigeon shooting body in Northern Ireland each with their own following, layout and regulations e.g., Skeet, Olympic skeet, Automatic ball trap, Olympic trench (15 multiple ball trap) and Down the Line. Their individual regulations formalise the placing of the trap that releases the clays, the angle and elevation of the trajectory and the places from which the shooters must stand to address the quarry. There is also considerable informal activity by field shooters practising with a manual trap. There are 1100 members of the Ulster Clay Pigeon Federation (UCPF) in Northern Ireland. There are 61 clubs within the Association, each usually having one type of layout, which is run and operated by the members. These include 2 commercial centres both associated with shops. Few clubs own their premises, most lease them. A major benefit of being in a club is of access to insurance. Most clubs would welcome new members who are prepared to share club work and responsibilities. Fees and shoot profit pays for rent of site and facilities. There are some facilities for the disabled in clubs using a flat layout but not in those, which require gradients e.g., quarry faces to simulate flying birds. Enquiries to the UCPF will result in an aspiring shooter being contacted by an appropriate club. The activity is promoted through the game fairs where it is often offered on a “come and try it” basis on the day. Ferguson McIlveen Page No 3 The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 Northern Ireland does not have a facility adequate for international standards even though we have produced international champions. An international standard centre, which will include facilities for all the branches of the sport and also archery, is planned for a site between Ballymoney and Ballymena. Available finance and planning approval remain to be obtained. It is considered that such a centre would transform the local sport and attract visitors to major events. Many clubs would welcome grant aid to improve facilities for both disabled and able- bodied members such as the 3 sided semi-covered stands used by Golf driving ranges. Shooters, residents and visitors require a gun licence / certificate / authority from the Police to carry a firearm. There is still much red tape and delay in obtaining police authorisation but it has recently become much easier to obtain a shotgun licence. Fell Running Fell running as a sport is very much a spin-off from clubs which are essentially either running or orienteering clubs. Of about 50 running clubs in Northern Ireland, 20 have regular and consistent interested fell runners. These are not uniformly distributed across the country, but concentrated in the East of the Province such as greater Belfast, South Down and Larne. Thus, events and training also tend to be concentrated in the east. While training is essentially an individual and casual (in an organised sense) thing, big events such as a championship can attract up to 150 runners with typically 100 spectators. Fell running takes place at four sites in the area. These are used for fell races. People training for races use a wide range of sites close to their home bases. There is a fear in landowners minds that they are liable to damages and claims if they give access, in spite of events carrying their own insurance. The N.I. Sports Council on request provides information about this sport. They also would pass specific queries to the organisation. There is a website www.nifra.og.uk accessible to visitors. Achievement of an agreed access route at Knocklayde would reactivate a very good site, starting and finishing at Ballycastle Forest. The encouragement of pubs or hotels to offer services in the neighbourhood of sites would greatly facilitate the events and could provide commercial spin-off. Field Sports The pattern of shooting in the Causeway Coast and Glens reflects the geography and land use of the area. Whilst shooting takes place across the entire area, the shooting rights ownership pattern of control of large tracts of land by families and individuals with relatively small pockets in places like the Glens, has a particular significance. Glenarm Estate (Earl of Antrim) is seen by the British Association of Ferguson McIlveen Page No 4 The Causeway Coast and Glens June 2002 Shooting Clubs (BASC) as a particularly good example of practice with excellent habitat management (some by Ulster Wildlife Trust) and the annual release of 10,000 pheasants and partridges. Shooting availability on these estates and forests is variously controlled and includes owner family use, day permit sales, lease and management to clubs, syndicates and individuals. A private syndicate that releases large numbers of partridges annually for example runs Rathlin Island. Because of the large acreage’s involved there are relatively fewer shooters than in the Sperrins and Fermanagh. There are relatively few clubs in the area, though one of the largest at Coleraine has 100 members. Individual clubs and syndicates can control as much as 20,000 acres of moorland and small numbers of shooters pay large sums for the game shooting in the estates. Wildfowling takes place along the Eastern Shore of the Foyle, at the Bann Mouth and at Larne Lough.